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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Interview with TBA Agent, Louise Fury

It's time for our monthly interview with a member of Team
Bent! Up this month, the fabulous Louise
Fury...

How did you get into agenting?

In 2004 I married a journalist who wanted to write a
book. We spent ages figuring out how to write a query (back when you had to buy
a giant book for all the contact info) and then researched editors, trying to
learn what we had to do to put together a nonfiction proposal. We sent out
about ten queries and received an offer before the week was up. I have a
marketing background and since that first sale—and I count that among my
sales!—I have been involved in the publishing industry in many capacities. I did
everything and anything: Reviewer, marketing consultant for authors, both in
e-pub (before it was considered legitimate) and print, as well as for a
literary agency and some consulting for a digital press. Because of those
experiences I started taking note of market trends and I loved the idea of
helping someone make their dreams a reality. Then, Lori Perkins and I started
working together and here I am five years later, now at the Bent Agency!

Your background is in marketing; how does that impact
your work as an agent?

Good writing is always in style and always in demand, but
I believe if you couple that with good, effective and targeted marketing, you
could have a real winner. I am always watching the market and try to keep an
eye on trends, author habits, readers’ interest, sales numbers, distribution
patterns and what people are interested in. I follow as much pop culture and
social media trends that I can and I pay special attention to consumer buying
habits. I like to know what readers want to buy, how they spend their money,
where they spend their money, what format they prefer (right now) and how they
like to receive their content. I try to help my authors focus on writing
good books and then to work toward maximum market penetration.

What’s your favorite part of being an agent?

Reading good stories and manuscripts before they are
books. And making dreams come true.

Tell us about a book you’ve read recently and
loved—something that you didn’t represent.

Just finished reading:

As If! The Oral History of Clueless by Jen Chaney.

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang.

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by
Jennifer Senior.

Obsession: An Erotic Tale by Gloria Vanderbilt.

The Girl From the Well by Rin
Chupeco.

I am currently reading Nimona by Noelle Stevenson and also The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

Do you recall the first book you read and loved? (Or
perhaps a major favorite as a child).

As a child, Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree collection. I
wish I could find them now! As a teenager, anything by V.C. Andrews and
Sidney Sheldon. I still think about Master of the Game once a week! Plus,
all of the Sweet Dreams books.

The natural talent you would most like to have.

I wish I could sing.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

The funny thing is I really haven’t had a terrible one. I
don’t accept jobs that I’m not going to like, and I’ve been working since I was
15! I always babysat and my first real job was working for a drug
awareness campaign and we handed out bumper stickers on the beach. We spent
hours walking in the hot sun and I had a fabulous time. I was a cashier
in high school and loved it; even when I was a census worker in college while
studying in South Africa, I found it very interesting. I REALLY LOVE to work and the jobs didn't
define me, so they never really got me down. I liked to work in any way that I could. Still do. I suppose one bad
one, though, was a regular babysitting job with a mother who made my skin crawl
every day. It lasted a year and I rented my first NYC apartment with the money
I saved. So it was worth it!

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I read a lot so I was interested in every job the
characters had in the books. I wanted to be someone new every week, depending
on what I’d just read! Lawyer, artist, actress, teacher, librarian. Demon
slayer!

Where would you go in a time machine?

High school! I loved it then, so I can only imagine if I
could do it again, but with my life experience.

What are some of your favorite movies?

I prefer TV to movies as I like to binge watch. I tend to
watch dark TV shows, light movies, and read sexy books! I couldn’t watch a
scary movie, but I can watch an entire series about serial killers. But if I
had to pick a few movies, I’d say Clueless, Bringing Down the House, Dirty
Dancing, and The Devil Wears Prada.

What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

Move to America, by myself, at 21 years old. And then
moving to New York City, by myself, at 22. It was the scariest thing but also
the most thrilling!

I lived, worked and went to school (sort-of), in Jo'burg many years ago. Such a beautiful and troubled country. I guess you can say that of many countries, including this one.You moved to America at 21, I had a chance to forever change my path and move back to RSA at twenty-one and chickened out. It's a long, romantic story with a sad ending. Fear won over. (Ha, I should write about it some day).

Here's a little follow-up to my earlier comment. I read your agent-bio. So you are from the Cape. I fell in love with a Cape Town boy and just writing this makes me smile and makes me cry. I loved South Africa and love my memories of how welcomed I felt there. Okay enough about me. Great post BTW.